Game Maker: The EPIK Gaming Chronicles
by Kid W25
Summary: Chris Zanford, 21 years old, gets a job in brand-new games company Epik Gaming. There he meets colourful characters and the very friendly owner. But not everything goes smoothly as Epik Gaming strives to be the best games company in the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Game Maker**

_**Disclaimer: **None of this story is accurate to real life or even close. It is inspired from the fun I had whilst playing Kairosoft's "Game Dev Story". Only the world, event names, console names and certain environments described are borrowed from the game. All characters and major plot points are mine._

* * *

><p><strong>Author Note: <strong>As said earlier in the disclaimer, this story is inspired from the wonderfully addictive game of "Game Dev Story" by Kairosoft. I cannot press this enough, but, this is just a piece of fiction for fun. I am not gaining any profit from it, I am not trying to break any copyright laws, I am not trying anything stupid. It's near the end of exam times, I haven't done anything on FictionPress for ages, so I decided to write something inspired by something that I love. I also know nothing about game development so do not trust anything that I've written, I have done no research whatsoever so to all those game development enthusiasts, I am very, truly sorry.

Don't read the story if you don't like it. Reviews are nice, but please no flames.

To anyone who hasn't played any of _Kairosoft_'s games (available on iTunes for about 5-6 bucks each), you should. You're missing out on a great heap of fun. Now, after a disclaimer and a huge author's note where I talked about crap all and even managed to advertise the awesome games, I think I should start with my story. Enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER ONE<strong>

My name is Chris Zanford. I am 21 years old. After wasting my life for just under two decades doing nothing but sit on my ass, eat and game, I decided to do something of my life. I decided to be a game maker. So, I did all the proper education, was one of the top ten people in my class. But in the midst of the global recession, I guess everyone's budget was tight, I couldn't get employed.

That is, until I got a call from Epik Gaming. A tiny, brand new company that started out a couple weeks before. You couldn't really call it a company. Not really.

I arrived gleefully only to find that the company was located at a city apartment. Two desks were placed in a manner that whoever worked there would be able to see one another and four low-tech computers were set up. The table was placed near one wall and a huge desk was placed near the opposite wall. A secretary welcomed me and escorted me to the president of the company in the next room of the apartment.

He had a suit on, but I knew it was only a cheap one. He introduced himself to me: Jared Klapton. I recognized the surname and he laughed.

"Yeah, everyone does. I'm the son of Mike Klapton. Founder of Klapton Media.

My jaw fell onto the ground. Even though the outward appearance of the company was so mundane, it was being run by the son of the founder of the number one media empire on Earth.

"I'm so sorry, but if you're the son of Mike Klapton, why is it that this company so small? Couldn't you just get the funding for it all from your father?" I asked.

He sighed, "I guess, but I wanted the indipendence. I wanted to prove to my father that I can do this. That I can run a company from scratch and make it big and this is what I managed to start off with, all on my own." He continued to the point straight away, "Now, as I understand it, you've spoken to Jessica, my secretary about the job requirements and the details of your pay, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Right," he stood, "now, if you would like to follow me, I would like to introduce you to the rest of your colleagues."

We entered the computer room, now filled with people. Jared cleared his throat and everyone gave him their fullest attention. "Everyone, I would like you to meet our newest recruit, Chris Zanford."

"Welcome," was the reply that I got from my three colleagues.

Jared pointed to the lone empty computer, "I guess there's not much else unfortunately. That is where you will work." He then pointed to the big desk on the other side of the room, "And that is where we come up with the game proposals. Now, for the rules."

I walked over to my computer and sat down. "Rules?"

"Yes. In this company, it is all about equality. We are all responsible to developing the games. Everyone needs to respect everyone. My secretary should be listened to at all times and I get the final say at which games should be released. Understood?"

"I guess so." I mumbled.

"Good," Jared smiled, "Now, our first meeting as a whole company will start at the proposal desk in ten minutes. Chris, welcome to the company."

"Thank you." I said as Jared turned around and walked back into the other room with his secretary.

The woman across from me stood up and reached over the computers for a handshake. I stood up and shook her hand.

"The name's Callie McAll – sound engineer. Nice to meet you." She smiled.

The man who looked in his fifties next to me patted my back, "welcome to the company son, I'm John Smite. Coder. And that one over there," he motions to the man sitting opposite of him, "is Mack Laylard. He's our main writer. He don't talk too much."

"So what do you specialise in Chris?" Callie asked cheerfully.

"Specialise in?" I asked.

"You know, what are you better at in game developing. Like me and John said, I specialise in sound engineering whilst John specialises in the coding of the game. Of course, we all chip in to everything for each game."

"Oh, okay," I paused as I thought, "I don't know, I think I'm an all-rounder?"

Callie and John laughed. "Well, we'll soon find out what you specialise in."

"So, is this, like, the first day for all you guys?" I asked innocently.

"Oh, no. You see, Mack and I started when the company first began, but because of only the two of us, Jared only gave us contract jobs. So we've been very discrete when it comes to the gaming world." John explained quickly.

"Yeah, and I only joined a month ago. Then, as a test, Jared allowed us to try at making games. Unfortunately, that idea went down the drain, it never passed the alpha stage. He then knew that we needed to have at least four people to create games." Callie joined in.

"I've gotcha, so that means, Epik Gaming hasn't created any games at all?" I asked.

"In the two months that it's been up, no. But I've got a feeling that now that you're hired, that we'll be able to create something soon." Callie answered cheerfully.

Jared and Jessica entered the room once more and approached the proposal desk. "All right guys, meeting time is now."

We all stood up and sat down at the proposal desk with Jared and Jessica being at one end, overlooking us all.

"Now, from Jess' amazing contacts in the industry, she has managed to find that the respectable gamin online magazine, 'Game Guy' has mentioned our arrival into the gaming industry in the March issue:

'Competition in the game industry continues to heat up as newcomer Epik Gaming enters the market. We look forward to seeing what they have in store for us. It will need to be impressive to make an impact in this crowded market.'

"Yes it wasn't even that big, but look at it this way, the word is out, we're here. More job opportunities will come along. This is, by all means, a good start." Jared explained.

"What kind of job opportunities are we talking about here?" John asked, "are we finally able to make games?"

Jared sighed, "unfortunately, our finances are a bit down so I believe it is best that we do a couple more contract jobs to balance out the finance sheets first before developing a game."

"Oh, bull shit! You know that it'll be more beneficial for our finances if we start making games at an early stage." John growled.

"It might be, but," Jared pointed at Jessica and himself, "Mrs. Dunt and I believe that it'd be safer if we took things slowly. One contract job at a time."

"Oh come on," John started before he was interrupted.

"Actually, I believe this is the best way to go about things too." Mack said his first words since I met him. Even everyone was surprised. I guess Mack never says unnecessary things to anybody.

"Look, John, I'm sorry, but it's final. We will only be taking on contracts job for just a little more while." Jared continued, "Also, onto the next point, Senga has notified that they will be releasing a new console. We have been invited to the ceremony. Now, Mrs. Dunt and I believe that it would be beneficial if we were able to bring you guys along to witness the gaming industry at one of it's high-point. Unfortunately, it seems that we are only allowed to take one of you."

"Ooh! Ooh! I wanna go!" Callie put her hand up enthusiastically.

"No, no. I believe it should be Newbie that goes. You haven't had any experience in the gaming industry have you Newbie?" John asked.

"No, not really, unfortunately." I answered quietly.

Jared thought for a bit.

"But I wanna go! I love these revelation conferences. There's so many interesting characters to meet." Callie complained.

"You just want to see how many guys' numbers you can get." John teased, Callie opened her mouth to answer back but was cut off by Jared.

"No, I believe John is correct on this one. I think it'll be a very good learning experience for Chris to see how competitive the gaming industry is like. So, how about it Chris, are you interested in coming to the Senga release conference?"

"Really?" I asked.

"Of course really, don't worry, we won't force you too. As you can see, there is somebody else that would like to go to the conference." Jared chuckled.

Callie leaned on me to whisper in my ear. "Please say no, I really want to go."

I laughed and shook my head. I agreed with John's and Jared's reasoning. It would be good for me to go. "Alright, I'll go."

Callie melodramatically slumped her head on the desk, "no...but I wanted to go..."

Everyone laughed, except for Mack. He just shook his head.

"Alright now, we've got new contract jobs, which one should we accept? KidW24 Studios is looking for someone to design a comic book to be included in their latest game, the working title for the game is: "Killing Hardy", it is a Horror, adventure game. Trackz Games are looking for someone to help design a character for their new puzzle-adventure game and Shalom Studios are looking for a company to come up with an insightful and interesting scenario for their upcoming shooter game."

"How are the pays?" John asked.

Jared whistled, "Unfortunately, very moderate pays, these companies are all pretty new like ours. Around $160K or so."

I choked on my water, "$160,000?"

Callie chuckled, "this is the gaming industry, 160 grand is nothing compared to how much everything else costs."

I collected myself, what Callie said made sense.

"All right, let's go for the one which pays the most money. The sooner we get our finances up, the sooner we can start making games!" John exclaimed.

"Okay, the Game Scenario job it is then. Mrs. Dunt will send the details of the jobs to your computers. That is it for the meeting for now, let's get to work!" Jared exclaimed.

Everyone stood to go to their respective desks.

"Chris, before you get to work, I need you to sign some papers for the trip to the Senga press conference." Jared stopped me.

"Of course, no problem." I said.

"I hope it all hasn't been to fast for you." Jared said kindly, giving me a pen and sliding the paperwork to me. I started signing them.

"No, it's all been quite exciting actually." I answered.

"That is wonderful," Jared murmured. I handed him all the paperwork and his pen back to him. He smiled, "all right. Thank you Chris."

I smiled and I went to my desk and started my work.

* * *

><p><strong>Senga Release Press Conference Day<strong>

I wsas surprised at the amount of people at the conference. Jared pointed out to me that not all of the people there were from game companies like ours but quite a few were fans of Senga and researchers from other big companies like Senga itself. Learning about what Senga's console is going to be and how they can improve their own console to be more popular than it.

Soon, by 10 o'clock, the time the press conference was scheduled to start, the whole hall was filled with people, I was nearly choking from the amount of people that were actually there.

The spokesperson stood at the podium and eveyone was soon silent to listen to him.

"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I am Sam Thompson, founder of Senga and proud creator of our latest console. As you know, Senga has come a long way from its humble beginnings and seeing that it is only the beginning of the evolution of gaming, we will be continuously finding ways to improve our games and gaming system.

"When I say that I am the creator of our new console, I mean that I was the project manager of it. I do not take full credit of it as our talented group of researchers and hardware engineers have basically done all of the hard work.I've just been the nasty boss with a dream, kicking their asses when I think they're taking too long. No, I'm only kidding, I just reduce their salaries when they _are_ taking too long."

The whole crowd chuckled with Sam Thompson.

"Anyhow, without further ado, I would like to present to you, Senga's newest console. The state-of-the-art: The Exodus!"

The screen behind him lit up showing the whole crowd the Exodus. Everyone cheered so loud my ears started ringing. Sam soon calmed the crowd down to continue talking.

"Isn't she amazing? And don't worry, you can be sure that we will be releasing lots of fun games for the Exodus! So stay tuned everyone, it won't be long till the Exodus will be in your local shops along with brand new games.

"The initial shipment for the Exodus is planned to be 990,000 units and at a reasonable price, so please, buy an Exodus to experience the latest generation of gaming. Gaming will not be as you have experienced it before. Thank you ladies and gentlemen. As always, a Q&A session will be in session at 12 noon so if any of you have got any questions about the Exodus, come along."

The screen switched off and Sam Thompson stepped down from his podium, and went backstage. Slowly, the excited crowd made their way out into the foyer.

"Are we going to the Q&A session?" I asked Jared.

"No, I believe we should keep focusing on our contract jobs for the moment and worry about whether or not to buy a licence to create games for the Exodus or not later." Jared answered.

Ignoring others, we made our way out of the hall. I knew, from what we had just experienced then, that Jared wanted to one day be like Sam Thompson. And because of this knowledge and the experiences that I had gained, I was motivated to work hard.

* * *

><p><strong>4 Months Later<strong>

"Yes!" we all groaned after an exhausting game scenario job that had the deadline of 8 weeks. We managed to finish it with a few days to spare.

"Great job guys, another job well done. Now, I have some good news everyone. Listen up." Jared said as he entered the computer room.

Everyone paid attention and stayed silent.

"We are now ready to develop our first game." Jared announced.

Everyone cheered, except for Mack. He just smiled and cleaned his glasses. I was excited too. It's been six long months of constant contract jobs for me, I was stoked for our first game.

"Now, both Mrs. Dunt and I believe that it'll be of the company's best interest _not_ to buy a licence to create Exodus games and to stick to creating PC games as there will most probably be quick advances in gaming technology to come."

Everyone murmured in agreement to his decision.

"Now, who feels up for making a written game proposal?" Jared asked.

"I reckon Mack should take the first go at it since his speciality is writing." Callie commented.

"I agree, even though our last attempt never made it alpha stage, I believe that Mack's game proposal had promise in it. And now that we've got Chris, we can definitely finish a game that we will be proud of." John said.

"Okay, Mack, are you willing to make a game proposal?" Jared asked.

He nodded.

"Great, are you able to have one done by next week?" Jared asked.

Mack nodded again.

"Excellent. This is it guys! We're finally properly entering the game industry!" Jared exclaimed.

Everyone cheered.

At that moment, I had realised my calling in life. I couldn't wait to start making games.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **__None of this story is accurate to real life or even close. It is inspired from the fun I had whilst playing Kairosoft's "Game Dev Story". Only the world, event names, console names and certain environments described are borrowed from the game. All characters and major plot points are mine._

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER TWO<strong>

**Game Proposal Day**

Mack stood at the front and everyone was silent as he set up his proposal. He was soon done and everyone seemed to lean in to listen better. Including me.

"As it is our very first game ever, that we will be able to finish to the end. Thanks to the arrival of Chris," Mack started. His voice was cracky, problably from the lack of use, "I underwent research to see what would be the best game we would be able to make, whilst saving the most money in today's market."

"All right, well done. What did you find?" Jared asked.

"According to my research," he pointed to a chart of statistics, "at our current age, it seems that the most popular type of game will be a simple reversi game. The market is not looking for a complex multi-layered story in a game, but for some family-friendly fun, with a familiar game that will be quick to teach: Reversi."

Mack proceeded to hand out stapled sheets of paper. At the front, there was:

"Game Proposal:

Working Title:  
>'REVERSI MANIA'<p>

By: Mack Laylard"

We then proceeded to read the proposal in silence. I finished reading the proposal quickly and decided to look over it just to check if I had missed anything.

'REVERSI MANIA' had a very simple story, as Mack had originally planned. The main character is very likable and the proposed style of art is very easy and dare-I-say, cute. Mack was right, this would be very popular for the whole family.

"Am I right to assume that everyone agrees this is a great game proposal?" Jared asked, flipping through the pages of his copy of the proposal.

We all agreed in unison, we were all excited to start making the game.

"A great proposal Mack, I agree with the others. You get the 'go' to start making this game." Jared smiled.

Everyone of us jumped out of our chairs and cheered. Jared stood as well, "Remember, this proposal is only the skeleton of the game. Put as much effort as you can to make this game the best you can."

We nodded and hurried back to our computers and started our work, I was a bit confused to what we're supposed to do since it is my first time at creating a game. Callie noticed my hesitation.

"Do you know what to do?" Callie asked.

"No, this will be my first time." I humbly admitted.

"No problem. Now, right now, 'REVERSI MANIA' is on its alpha stage. In the alpha stage we work on most of the game scenario, the preliminary overall design of the game and the graphics. Then we move on to the beta stage where we refine the game scenario and work on the sound aspect of the game. That includes any sound effects, tracks and voice-overs of characters if we need any. Then after we finish the beta stage, we go on to refine everything that we have done." Callie explained quickly.

"Then we finish the game?" I asked.

"No, no. Along the way we will find bugs in the coding of the game. We will first de-bug the game before we release it to the public." Callie answered.

"That seems like a lot of work." I mumbled innocently.

"Yes, it is. But when you're doing the thing that you love. You don't care about the amount of work. You just do it. Then you get the joy of seeing your hardwork being enjoyed all around the world." John chipped in.

I nodded.

"So you know what to do now?" Callie asked.

"I guess so. I'll try my best." I said.

John patted me on the back, "good lad. We're counting on you on the graphics."

"What?" I exclaimed.

"Well, Callie's the sound engineer, I'm the coder, Mack's the writer, that leaves you to be the visual designer." John explained.

"Oh," I simply mumbled.

Callie smiled, "Let's hope you're arty."

"Yeah," I said quietly, "Let's hope I am."

* * *

><p><strong>20 Weeks Later<strong>

"How are we going with 'REVERSI MANIA'?" Jared asked as he approached each individual computer, inspecting it.

"It's doing fine, we're nearly finished." John said, "Just de-bugging the last few bugs and then we're done."

"How is it? Are you proud of your work?" Jared asked, looking over my shoulder.

"Considering it's our first game and we've managed to finish it, hell yes!" John answered again. I nodded.

"How is it Mack? Is it as you visioned it?" Jared asked, looking over Mack's shoulder now. Mack nodded.

"YES! DONE!" exclaimed John. "That's the last bug gone!"

"To the warehouses!" Callie yelled.

Everyone turned their computers off and hurried to leave.

Jared patted me on my back, "Come on now, that's it for today. The warehouses will create and distribute the game till the demand is gone. But first, the guys at Game Guy will want to get a copy to review it, and if it gets a high score, that'll help with the sales a lot."

"Let's hope it does then." I said as I stood and put my jacket on.

Jared laughed and opened the door for me. "Let's hope so. Good night."

"Good night sir." I said before leaving.

* * *

><p><strong>2 Weeks Later<strong>

"Alright everyone, gather around. 'REVERSI MANIA' has finally been released to the stores and Game Guy has done a review on it." Jared called us to the big conference table. I was the last to sit down.

Jared held up a CD case which had a big, colourful 'REVERSI MANIA' at the top and a reversi board underneath it. Everybody murmured with approval.

"That doesn't look too bad." John commented. Everyone agreed.

"No, it doesn't really. Now, the way it works is, the warehouse will continue to create copies as long as the shops are still ordering, to minimise wastes. That's good news for us, considering we're a new company and if it doesn't sell well, we won't waste our money on recovering the left-over copies." Jared explained. He motioned to Jessica Dunt, the secretary, to turn the lights down and showed the Game Guy magazine on the projector.

We all read carefully:

* * *

><p><strong>REVERSI MANIA – Epik Gaming<strong>

**For a quick look:**

_**James McNally**__ – 3/10 – _It went right to the trash_  
><em>_**Mark Antoine **__– 3/10 –_They need more practice  
><em><strong>Annette Bland<strong>__ – 5/10 – _Good, but limited appeal  
><em><strong>Brendan Jaquez<strong>__ – 5/10 – _Good overall

**The Review:**

**You all know **that all of us on Game Guy (especially the four of us who review the games), support new game developing companies. So we're always excited when a new game dev. company release their very first game. And for this issue, it's Epik Gaming's turn.

After coming out as a company, Epik Gaming has spent their time looking for creative contracts to build their account balances, and we were seriously wondering if Epik Gaming was a game dev. company at all. And then, 'REVERSI MANIA' was released and they made sure that the game lived up to that title. The 'REVERSI' part anyway. It wasn't so much 'MANIA' but more 'CHAOS'.

'REVERSI MANIA' allows players to go against the AI in games, and that is literally it! There are no optional game modes, no storyline whatsoever and with only mediocre sound effects and shocking graphics, this is hardly entertaining at all. We give it a 16 out of 40.

**Reviewer Comments:**

_**James McNally**_ – I don't understand how Epik Gaming would be happy to release this game. Very disappointed. It went straight to the trash.

_**Mark Antoine **_– It's obvious from 'REVERSI MANIA', that Epik Gaming is enthusiastic about developing games, they just don't have the skills to make a worthwhile one, they just need more practice.

_**Annette Bland**_ – Look, for a new game developing company, this is definitely not the worst we've seen. It's got a few of the correct elements to make a fabulous game, but there is very limited appeal in it to make gamers want to continue playing it.

_**Brendan Jaquez**_ – Compared to other newbie games, it was good. But to make it in this industry, a game can't only be 'good'.

* * *

><p>All the murmurs stopped as we just sat there in silence. I couldn't believe it. All the reviewers were not happy with our games. Even though we poured all that we have into that game. We sat there in silence as Jared tried to cheer us up.<p>

"Look, yes, they weren't great scores, but maybe the gamers wouldn't mind. It can still sell..." Jared attempted. "Look, why don't we just focus on doing a couple more contracts to build our finances.

And that's how we picked ourselves up, we did the 'couple more' contracts. But we didn't really have any motivation to do so until I was looking at Epik Gaming's website and saw a link to our Chirper account. Some one had mentioned us in their Chirp. I opened it and saw that a couple of people had made their own reviews.

One said:

"I was walking one day and saw that a ew game was out called 'REVERSI MANIA'. I found out that this was the first official game of Epik Gaming, and even though the AI was alright, this game is really just a skeleton that could have been a casual gaming hit."

While another said:

"New game came out today, and even though it wasn't really great, when I heard that it was from Epik Gaming, I was surprised because their office is, like, half an hour from my house. But I heard that this game was coming out everywhere. I like to support my local community organizations so I'm going to support them also."

That really made me rethink about my attitude when it comes to what we're doing here. It cost us $243.5K to make the games, but we managed to make a profit of $215.4K with 'REVERSI MANIA', so it wasn't a complete bomb. 'REVERSI MANIA' also managed to make it to rank 23 of sales in its first week in the shops. So, the fact that we made it to the top 30 is a big deal when we're such a new company.

I was suddenly filled with inspiration and decided I would secretly make a game proposal while we're still working on the contracts.

* * *

><p><em><strong>3 Weeks Later<br>**_"I think it's about time for us to make our second game guys, do we have any game proposals around?" Jared said.

"I think Chris has been working on one for a while, haven't you Chris?" Callie called out, causing me to blush a bit.

"Oh really Newbie!" John exclaimed, "well, why don't you show us what it is?"

"I don't know, it's not really finished yet." I murmured.

"I've got another one." Mack spoke quietly.

"Excellent, well Chris, we'd love to give you feedback on your game proposal. We might be able to create it at a later date." Jared explained.

I nodded and stood slowly to present my (future) game proposal:

"Game Proposal:

Working Title:  
>Fantasia ?<p>

By: Chris Zanford"

By the end of my game proposal, everyone was silent. I took it the wrong way at first. "It's terrible, isn't it?"

"No, no, no! It was actually brilliant!" Jared exclaimed. Everyone else agreed, even Mack, even though I was actually taking over his job.

"The hero was very...great! If we made this, gamers will be roped in by the characters, the story and you even thought of a great gameplay idea." Jared continued.

"Yeah, I guess, but I don't think we're ready and I haven't exactly finished it to the point that I am absolutely happy with it." I commented.

"No, of course, speaking of being ready, I have actually organized extensive training for all of you because the most important thing that I saw from 'REVERSI MANIA's review is that we weren't ready in our technological skills yet. Your training will start tomorrow. And when we are much better, we will be able to make games that impress the Game Guy reviewers!"

Mack stood up as I sat down to give his own game proposal. A game proposed under the title of 'Blackbarrow'. It was obvious that the 'REVERSI MANIA' reviews hit him hard, especially when they claimed that there was no storyline. 'Blackbarrow' was more story-based and it wasn't too bad.

In the end, we decided to work on 'Blackbarrow' as some fans were complaining that we weren't releasing enough games.

So began our second attempt at making a game. Hopefully this time, it will impress the reviewers more. And now in hindsight, that was the good old days, where nothing was wrong. We might have not been famous, at least we were enjoying ourselves. Oblivious to all the trouble that was to come.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N: <strong>Ok, sorry for the long wait for the next chapter, I am trying to update this as soon as I can, but I've got uni and the assignments that come along with it and I've got to make sure that I continuously work on my **Doctor Who: Forgotten Memories** series. Hopefully, chapter 3 won't take as long as chapter 2 did. Hope you enjoyed it, review and share this and/or my other stories to everyone you know that might enjoy.

Kid.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer:**__None of this story is accurate to real life or even close. It is inspired from the fun I had whilst playing Kairosoft's "Game Dev Story". Only the world, event names, console names and certain environments described are borrowed from the game. All characters and major plot points are mine.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER THREE<strong>

**EPIK GAMING – First Birthday**

**Some of you** might have noticed that today marks the first appearance of new-game studio, Epik Gaming in the game development scene. So far, because of budget problems, Epik Gaming has only released one game. And it was crap, by our standards. But we understand that they are a brand-new game studio, and we weren't expecting anything flashy or AAA grade.

So far, they've made a name for themselves doing various multimedia work. This includes making sound effects for cartoons, making game scenarios for other indie game studios and creating ringtones.

Some readers might say, "why are they calling themselves a game studio when they're not even making games?" This is wrong. There is nothing wrong with saving your expenses to train and allow your company to grow so that you make better games, even if that means you lose the chance to get huge amounts of money quickly. This is exactly what Epik Gaming is doing, as just last week, Epik Gaming has released info on their website (link at the end of the article) that they are at the beta stage of their latest game "Blackbarrow". According to Epik Gaming, "Blackbarrow" should be completed and fully released in about a month. So we're all looking forward to see how much improvement Epik Gaming has gotten since their first game, "REVERSI MANIA".

Happy birthday Epik Gaming, all of us at Game Guy wish you a happy birthday and hope that you continue to bring us more games that'll show your potential.

And to our readers, hope your gaming has been amazing so far and for it to continue!

_Mark Antoine  
><em>**Epik Gaming's website: ** epik-gaming

* * *

><p>It's been a year since I joined the team. Which is about two weeks after Epik Gaming's official debut into the multimedia scene. It's gone by so quickly as well, which made me even more sure that this is what I want to do in my whole life. Our work on our latest game "Blackbarrow" is nearly over. We are just going over it and getting rid of all the bugs that we could find.<p>

Mack has really put a lot more effort into the storyline for this game, and I enjoyed reading through all the game's plot-points. I hoped that we'd get better reviews on this one.

Jared has strategically spent our income for training everyone of us to become better at our respective jobs. So I really hoped that our improvement will show in "Blackbarrow"

Six hours later, John called out, "got the last bug!" and we all cheered then sighed, it's been a long debugging session and now it's finally over.

"Did I hear some good news?" Jared said, walking into the office smiling.

"Sure did, I just debugged the last bug that 'Blackbarrow' had." John explained.

"Excellent! Now Ms. Dunt will organise the distribution of the game!" Jared started, "And I know that this is the last thing you guys want to do after a long day, but we need to have a company meeting to plan our next move."

We groaned out loud but followed Jared into the meeting room and sat at our usual places.

"So, as you guys know, because of our recent training marathon, our finances are a bit lower than where we want them to be. But it's alright, because what I see us doing now, as 'Blackbarrow' is being sold in stores, is that we'll be doing some more odd jobs here and there just to give us a bit of an insurance in case something disastrous happens. Thoughts?" Jared started the discussion.

"I guess that makes sense, that's what we've been doing for the past year." John said honestly.

"I agree, sure we're not making a lot of money now, but as long as there's enough money for you to pay our salaries and keep the company in the blacks, then I'm fine with it." Callie chipped in, "and anyway, if we keep training, then we'll get better, and then we'll make better games!"

Mack nodded.

"What about you Chris, any thoughts?" Jared looked at me, "because of our budget, this means that we'll need to do a quick-fix game, something like 'REVERSI MANIA' so we won't be able to do your 'Fantasia' idea yet."

"Yeah, sure, I'm not ready story-wise to make 'Fantasia' into a full-fledged game anyway. I'm happy with whatever everyone is happy with for now boss." I answered him.

"Great, I guess it's settled then, everyone have a great night's sleep, there's another day of hard work to be done tomorrow!"

Jared stood and everyone followed his lead. As he walked back into his office, John called out, "come have drinks with us boss!"

He laughed, "not tonight John, sorry, Ms. Dunt and I need to look over the books and make sure that 'Blackbarrow' can be distributed as soon as possible."

"Ai'ight," John called, "see ya tomorrow big man!"

"Hey Chris, you wanna come have drinks with us?" Callie asked cheerfully.

"Is it only you guys?" I asked.

"Yeah, Mack doesn't like to socialise, probably spends his time making more stories or scenarios and big man back there likes to, you know, 'do the deed' with Jessica." John whispered roughly.

"No way," I said in disbelief, "is that why he always says no?"

"Duh," John laughed. "Now, what about you? You haven't answered Callie yet, it's been a year since you started working with us here, and you are yet to join us in drinks. What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know, I think I've just been really tired. Who would've known that sitting in front of a computer all day will be really tiring?" I explained, "but, tonight, in celebration of us finishing 'Blackbarrow', I shall join you guys."

"Right on, come on, we'll carpool in my car." John cheered, Callie grinned widely.

* * *

><p>For an older person than the rest of us, John's car was really messy. I thought that the older you get, the cleaner your car will get. But that's not the case with John's car. His front passenger seat was so full of random rubbish and general stuff, that Callie and I were forced to sit at the back.<p>

I sat in the middle while she sat on the left. The right seat was covered in rubbish also, not to mention, the whole floor. It was really uncomfortable for both of us as I needed to lean on Callie a bit to stay away from the rubbish on my right side.

We arrived at the bar (not as soon as I hoped) and ordered a round of drinks.

"So, newbie, how are you finding the games industry after your first year?" John asked, taking a big mouthful of beer afterwards.

"I'm really enjoying it. Epik Gaming has such a great atmosphere that I really enjoy working in and I can't wait to keep making games with you guys." I answered truthfully.

"Aw," Callie responded.

"Such a naïve response." John laughed loudly, Callie turned and gave him a look, he ignored her.

"So, when are you going to have that 'Fantasia' idea of yours done?" John continued.

"I really don't know, as I said in the meeting, I really don't want to ruin this after you guys gave such rave opinions about it," I told them, "and I really don't want to take Mack's 'thing' away from him, you know?"

"Yeah, Mack is so anti-social that he probably won't do anything if you did." John laughed at his cruel remark.

"That's not fair, just because he isn't as loud as you are!" Callie defended Mack.

"Yeah, and he's been working so hard to improve in his story-telling too, I just want to make sure that he doesn't feel like I'm pushing him out." I told them.

"Fine, whatever." John muttered, "but I can't wait to work on your idea, it really is, quite an awesome one."

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it too, and I'm sure that Mack feels the same as us." Callie added.

I shrugged and finished my drink, "I buy the next round?"

They both loudly agreed.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Callie's house was only about three streets away from mine, so I just got out when John got to her house. We both thanked him for the ride, and we both sighed deeply that we finally got space to breathe.<p>

"Thanks for the great night," I told Callie, "I'll make sure that I attend more of those from now on."

Callie laughed, "yeah, I know right?" She paused for a beat then continued, "about John's car…"

"Please tell me you have your own," I said suddenly.

"I have a scooter but it's under maintenance till tomorrow." Callie explained.

I checked my watch, it was past midnight, "you mean later today?"

She laughed, "yeah. How do you get to work?"

"I take the train, I'm still refurbishing and fixing up stuff in my apartment, so I haven't been able to save up to get a car yet." I explained.

"Really? After a year?"

"Yeah, it's an old building, but the rent was cheap." I told her.

"Okay then," Callie said quietly, "hey, what you said about Mike, that was really thoughtful of you."

"It was the truth though. I'm completely new to this industry and Mack has helped out on some scenarios for other game studios than Epik, so I don't want to invade his specialty." I explained.

"It was still very thoughtful of you." Callie said.

I shrugged and smiled. She smiled back.

"Well, we both need our sleep for work," I paused, "later in the morning, so I better walk home now."

"Okay." Callie said as she walked up the steps to her apartment building. I started walking down the road. "Hey, Chris," she called out.

I turned around, "can we take the train to work together? I don't want to be in John's car again."

"Sure thing, 8.15 train?" I called out.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"See you then." I said as I waved one more time and continued walking down the road.

I was quite happy with my life walking home that night. Even though I do live in a very old apartment that has the knack of things being broken, it is nearly the end of the fiscal year which means that I'll get my first bulk paycheck, I'm working at a great place with great people. And I'm doing my dream job. My calling. I was content at that moment.

Little did I know that something tragic will hit Epik Gaming really soon. After the release of Epik's fifth game in fact.

* * *

><p><strong>Blackbarrow (PC) – Epik Gaming<strong>

**For a quick look:**

_**James McNally – **__3/10 – _The idea isn't bad but it needs a lot of work  
><em><strong>Mark Antoine – <strong>__3/10 – _Meh.  
><em><strong>Annette Bland<strong>__ – 4/10 –_ They worked hard on it but still…  
><em><strong>Brendan Jaquez<strong>__ – 3/10_ – Better luck next time

**The Review:**

**They're back after** their last indie flop, 'REVERSI MANIA', hoping to prove that they're a worthy indie developing studio but unfortunately, 'Blackbarrow' is like the captain's annoying talking parrot that ends up dying off-screen near the end of the story.

Mack Laylard if Epik took a cliché pirate scenario and built onto it. In 'Blackbarrow', players take on the role of the titular character as he is stranded on a deserted island when his first mate mutinied against him.

Yes, the universe of the game is somewhat wonderful (all thanks to the time that Laylard took to create it) but Epik's ability of creating something theoretical into something practical is barely worth mentioning. Epik Gaming couldn't really pull this one off – in our opinion (IOO) – and failed to create something that was fun to accompany an intriguing universe. 13 out of 40 points from us.

**Reviewer Comments:**

_**James McNally**__ – _Epik Gaming are great guys, and this game was alright. It had a good idea, but they couldn't finish it properly.

_**Mark Antoine **_– I didn't actually like this game. It didn't interest me at all. When I played it, I was like, "meh…"

_**Annette Bland**_ – Epik Gaming obviously worked hard on 'Blackbarrow', but you can't make a good game with only creativity.

_**Brendan Jaquez**_ – Sorry Epik Gaming, I didn't like the gameplay at all. Better luck next time.

* * *

><p>The reviews were quite harsh and we scored a lower score than 'REVERSI MANIA' which really affected Mack, but he got through it, and soon we started working on our third game.<p>

'Blackbarrow' sales peaked in the first week with 27,024 units and managed to get into rank 22 in the top 30 top-grossing Game Guy list of the week, better than 'REVERSI MANIA' which entered at rank 23 in the first week. 'Blackbarrow' production stopped by the sixth week after a total of 66,439 units were sold, which is generally a better outcome than 'REVERSI MANIA'.

Within three months, we started working on our next game, 'Puzzle Galore'. Production of 'Puzzle Galore' ended after five months and we went straight back into miscellaneous contract work.

* * *

><p><strong>Puzzle Galore (PC) – Epik Gaming<strong>

**For a quick look:**

_**James McNally – **__6/10 – _Not for most players  
><em><strong>Mark Antoine – <strong>__3/10 – _What the heck is this?!  
><em><strong>Annette Bland<strong>__ – 6/10 – _It all needs more work  
><em><strong>Brendan Jaquez<strong>_ – _5/10 – _I'm a little disappointed

**The Review:**

**Puzzles are only** one half of the deal in Epik Gaming's, "Puzzle Galore". Writer, Mack Laylard, explained that he wanted players to experience something new, and "Puzzle Galore" is definitely new.

Compared to their first two games, this game is amazing (only because the others were utterly shocking). Every element is better, especially the graphics. Players will notice an obvious change for the better in the graphics of "Puzzle Galore".

President of Epik Gaming, Jared Klapton (yeah, the son of the founder of Klapton Media) explained that the sudden change in gaming experience was Klapton's executive decision to spend money to train the staff members in their respective fields instead of simply hiring new and better people.

"Over here at Epik Gaming, we like to strive to create a positive environment for our workers to work in. This includes having a workplace where the pressure of suddenly losing your job is not something that eats at the back of their heads. A positive working environment is always a plus for our developers in this struggling economy."

The most obvious problem about the game is its storyline. The method of story-telling and the subjects that are explored in the story-line are so abstract that most likely, 50% of gamers who play this will be left confused.

Overall, "Puzzle Galore" is still short of current gaming standards, even for indie games, but it is a statement to Epik Gaming's courage and perseverance to live up to their company name. (20 out of 40)

**Reviewer Comments:**

_**James McNally **__– _Personally, I enjoyed this a lot. But I realise that the content of the game will not be for most players at all.

_**Mark Antoine **_– I see a lot of different things in this job, but what the heck is this?! It's. Utter. Crap. I'm sorry Epik Gaming, but this _is_ utter crap.

_**Annette Bland**_ – I like Epik Gaming, they're all hard workers and I believe that this all needs more work to be a better game.

_**Brendan Jaquez**_ – I think we all agree that Epik Gaming is one of our favourite upcoming game developing companies. But truthfully, I am a little disappointed with this one.

* * *

><p>Mack took the reviews of "Puzzle Galore" way more seriously than the reviews of the previous two games. And at one point after we read the review, I walked in on him slamming his head on a toilet cubicle door in frustration.<p>

"Who's there?" he yelled surprisingly loudly. It was the first time I've ever heard him actually yell.

"It's Chris, are you alright Mack?" I answered him.

"Do I sound alright?" He yelled. He opened the door and he looked like he had been crying too. "Do I look alright? Have you been reading the same review that I've read?"

"Dude, calm down." I said quietly, "I'm not here to gloat. I'm just here to talk since you never really talk to me."

He glared at me. "I hold this company back. Why aren't you more angry at me?"

"Because we're a team right?" I said to him more firmly. "Why do you think you're holding the team back."

"Oh, I don't know," Mack started sarcastically, "because I'm not a good writer?"

"Then train more!" I exclaimed. "Jared's trying his best to let everyone have training sessions to get better, if you don't want to continue to hold the rest of us back, just ask him for more training sessions!"

He stared at me.

"Hell, I'll even walk up with you and demand it." I concluded.

He looked away and sighed. He then turned around and wiped his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just, the Game Guy reviewers sounded like they were targeting me, you know?"

I patted his shoulder, "it really wasn't that bad. They noted that we all have gotten better."

"Yeah, I guess so, I really am sorry for snapping at you. I shouldn't have." Mack said softly.

I held my hand out to him for a handshake, "new slate?"

"Yeah, new slate." He said, smiling weakly and shaking my hand.

We both walked out of the bathroom, "did you know, that was the first time you and I had a proper conversation together?" I told him.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you've only ever told me what you want in the visuals of the game we were currently working on in a certain scene and then just sat back down in your seat and stay silent for hours on end." I explained.

"I get in the zone quite easily." He smiled.

"I reckon!"

"Puzzle Galore" did better than the previous two games, entering the top 30 top-grossing list at rank 17 on its first week of release and after 7 weeks of production, ended up selling 91,679 units in total. Because of our gradual improvement in sales, we managed to afford more training sessions.

Following the sudden successful trend of educational games, we started production on "Guess the Animal". Whilst developing "GtA", Intrendo released their new console to battle the Exodus, the IES which had the initial shipment of 1,800,000 units.

* * *

><p><strong>Guess the Animal (PC) – Epik Gaming<strong>

**For a quick look:**

_**James McNally **__– 5/10 –_ Good overall_**  
>Mark Antoine<strong>__ – 4/10 - _ It's alright_**  
>Annette Bland<strong>__ – 4/10_ – Meh._**  
>Brendan Jaquez<strong>__ – 3/10 – _Not bad. But not good

**The Review:**

"**Guess the Animal" **is Epik Gaming's first attempt at an educational game. Epik Gaming is the latest game developing company to have jumped on the Educational band wagon and it is a bold move for them. One that could have made them a popular game developer for the ever-growing educational gaming scene.

Unfortunately for them it didn't work.

"Guess the Animal" has all the basics for an educational kids' game, but it was not enough. Nothing was right and truthfully, we think that Mark Laylard (main writer of Epik Gaming) is slowly losing his touch with story-telling, although it might just be that making educational games is not Laylard's thing.

At their current skill level, they won't be able to create any worthwhile games (and we don't like games that are condescending)

**Reviewer Comments:**

_**James McNally –**_Look, Epik Gaming is slowly improving, but we're not sure if they'll be able to make it big when their game is 'good overall'.

_**Mark Antoine – **_I don't know. This one, it was alright, except for the traumatic experience it left me. I'm just kidding, of course!

_**Annette Bland –**_No comment. It's just 'meh.'

_**Brendan Jaquez – **_I don't like educational games. They're not bad, but they're also not good in my opinion (IMO).

* * *

><p>Mack took the review for "Guess the Animal" really well compared to the "Puzzle Galore" review, he admitted that educational games aren't really in his comfort zone. And even though it didn't have great reviews, because of the trend, "Guess the Animal" did quite well, entering the top 30 top-grossing list at rank 13 and having a total of 99,186 units in its six day production run, which meant, more training sessions.<p>

Mack was suddenly very sociable after "Guess the Animal", which was a welcome change for the rest of the company. And when he came up with the pitch of our next game, "Marry Me!", we were very motivated to make it our best game yet.

And in six months, we managed to finish debugging it.

* * *

><p><strong>Celebrating Epik Gaming's 2nd Birthday with<br>Marry Me! (PC) – Epik Gaming**

**For a quick look:**

_**James McNally – **__5/10 – _I'm a little disappointed  
><em><strong>Mark Antoine<strong>__ – 5/10 –_ Close. Try harder  
><em><strong>Annette Bland<strong>__ – 6/10 – _It looked fun, wasn't really  
><em><strong>Brendan Jaquez<strong>__ – 4/10 – _It shows promise

**The Review:**

"**Marry Me!" is **an interesting romance simulation, where players take on the role of Mark, a low-esteemed, math club president who has a knack of obsessing over things. In this game, it was Jill Macintosh – and he wants her to marry him…even though they're still in high-school (we weren't kidding when we said interesting). It's not as easy as it sounds, as Jill hates Mark's guts.

The concept is definitely something amazing, but unfortunately the gameplay was not. Very sketchy graphcs and shocking animation did not help them at all, but it was manageable. I (James) believe that the sketchy graphics, weren't just their lack of skill, but a creative decision to go along with the sketchy story-line.

According to a post on Epik Gaming's website, the fact that the release of "Marry Me!" being exactly the same as their second birthday was completely coincidental. Was this in reality, simply a marketing scheme? We don't think so, no matter what our readers might speculate.

At least now we can see the bright light of good games at the end of Epik Gaming's tunnel of bad games! (20 out of 40)

**Reviewer Comments:**

_**James McNally – **_Knowing what Epik Gaming is capable of, now that they've gone under extensive training since their humble beginnings, I'm a little disappointed with "Marry Me!" Get better quick Epik Gaming!

_**Mark Antoine –**_They're getting there. Very close, but they need to try harder.

_**Annette Bland – **_When I saw this on my desk, it looked so fun! But I was wrong. It wasn't really. Story was amusing though.

_**Brendan Jaquez**_ – Yes, this was not a good game, but Epik Gaming has improved so much since "REVERSI MANIA", this shows a lot of promise.

* * *

><p>"Marry Me!" managed to excel in sales. It entered the top 30 list at rank 5 and stayed on the list for five weeks before dropping out. On the seventh week, production of "Marry Me!" stopped because of dropping numbers in sales, but at the end, "Marry Me!" made a total number of 262,782 units sold. I guess that releasing it on our second birthday as a company somehow improved our sales.<p>

There was a huge celebration, drinks, Jared came along. But for some reason, Mack was still unwilling to join in.

The next day, as soon as I got to work, I knocked on the door of Jared's office.

"Come in!" he called from inside.

I opened the door and walked in.

"Sit down, what can I do for you Chris?" he asked me kindly.

"I've finished 'Fantasia'. I'm ready for us to create it." I told him.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello guys! I know it's been <em>so <em>long since chapter 2 was released. I hope you guys haven't forgotten about Game Maker. So, to celebrate the end of my uni year, I've been on a massive writing spree, releasing two new chapters for "A House's Secret" and now, this humongosaurus of a chapter for Game Maker. Filled with game reviews!**

**All the scores and 'For a quick look' comments, are straight from the game itself. This is based on a run as I played Game Dev Story at the time that I conceived the idea. I know that this chapter was a huge game review fest, but next chapter I promise there'll be a lot more dialogue and drama as Epik Gaming starts to develop the pitch that they loved nearly two years ago (two years in the story).**

**So I hope you've enjoyed the growth of the characters – if there was any – in this chapter. And I know I promised last chapter for me to update this sooner, but I promise, I will come back with chapter 4 much sooner than chapter 3.**

**So until then, enjoy!**

**Kid.**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer:**__None of this story is accurate to real life or even close. It is inspired from the fun I had whilst playing Kairosoft's "Game Dev Story". Only the world, event names, console names and certain environments described are borrowed from the game. All characters and major plot points are mine.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER FOUR<strong>

Everyone was excited when Jared told them about Fantasia that day in the team meeting. Even though the meeting was right near the end of our working day, everyone wanted me to start briefing them on "Fantasia".

As I went through the mythologies and the atmosphere that I have thought up to compliment the game's world, everyone was mesmerized. As I went through a basic outline of a battle system, everyone agreed that it was basic but promised that it will be built up into something magnificent. As I told them about the campaign, everyone was shell-shocked as I went through some of the major plot-twists that I had planned for the game.

Everyone was so excited, that everyone was willing to work overtime without pay, as the budget that Jess and Jared had built did not take into account any overtime work. No one complained. Everyone was too excited, they just wanted to start making the game.

At about one am, even though we needed to be back into work by nine am, we decided to go out for a quick drink. And this time, surprisingly, Mack joined too. None of us knew what changed his views about after-work drinks, and none of us cared. At that point, all of the Epik Gaming crew – including Jess and Jared – were at the nearest bar, having a few drinks.

I had always felt comfortable working at Epik Gaming, there was a family-type feel to the company, but this was the first time that it genuinely felt like my colleagues were my second-family.

After a few drinks, everyone was a bit tipsy and decided to go for a bit of a dance before leaving. Mack and I stayed behind sitting at our booth. "Hey Chris," Mack said to me, his cheeks bright red.

"Hey Mack, you don't drink much do you?" I answered.

"Huh?" Mack groaned, looked at his beer and smiled, "yeah, I don't really. Too busy trying to think up scenarios, you know?"

"Not really, you don't really interact much with me and the others." I answered him honestly.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I guess it's," he paused to burp, "a habit from my upbringing, you know? I used to spend tonnes of time in my made-up worlds instead of talking to my classmates, my family, all that."

"Oh." It was all I could mutter. Maybe Mack was a little bit more than tipsy.

"Anyways, that was not what I want to chat to you about!" Mack exclaimed, "I just wanna say, you, are a natural."

"A natural?" I asked.

"At making scenarios! Man, I am a teensy-weensy bit jealous of you. 'Fantasia', sound _amazing_!" Mack continued.

"Thanks, I guess." I laughed quietly.

"Do you think there'll be any sequels for 'Fantasia'?" Mack asked softly.

"I'm not sure yet, I believe 'Fantasia' might be a big enough universe to explore in sequels." I said.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we're able to think up something to make sequels right?" Mack laughed loudly. So loud, it was uncomfortable sitting next to him after being so used to him being quiet for two years.

"Actually, Jared said that _if_ 'Fantasia' does become successful enough to make sequels, that I'd be in charge of writing the story alone like the original." I confessed to him. Mack looked guttered when he heard that.

"But what would I be doing then?" Mack asked.

"I don't know." I answered him honestly, "you'll need to talk this through with Jared tomorrow about it…"

"Fair enough." He mumbled, skulled the rest of his beer, and went off to throw up.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The next day<br>**_"Hey, did you hear about what happened earlier this morning?" Callie ambushed me as soon as I got in to the office the next day.

"What? I just came in Callie, of course I haven't heard about anything." I answered her.

"Mack and Jared had a heated conversation about something." Callie explained, "yeah, Mack had got in earlier than everyone, just as Jared came in, and then proceeded to go to Jared's office to discuss something. I came in when they were about halfway into the discussion and boy, did Mack sound mad."

"Mad?" I asked. Mack had been so quiet all the time, the picture of Mack being angry that popped up in my head was an intriguing thought.

As I got to my seat, Mack walked out of Jared's office, grabbed his stuff from his desk and left. He didn't look at me at all. Jared walked out of his office and cleared his throat when he was sure Mack was gone.

"Mack has just got a lot on his mind today. He's going to be taking the day off to get through some personal circumstances. If everybody could just keep working their best, that's all I ask of for today."

"No drinks tonight then?" John asked.

"No, I won't be tagging along tonight, but if you guys are going to, then go ahead." Jared answered, "that's all guys, keep working now." And with that he went back into his office. I looked over to Jess at her desk and she caught my gaze and shrugged.

I guess no one really knows what that was all about.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Five days later<br>**_We were doing quite good progress on 'Fantasia'. Mack came back the day after his big discussion with Jared. Jared won't even talk about it to Jess. So it must've been some big personal stuff that they were talking about.

That night, everyone had left, either to go home or to go have drinks. I had opted to stay late to do some finalizing over some story-work that we were about to start the next day.

Everything was silent, except for my keyboard clicking, and it had been for about twenty minutes before Mack had entered the office again.

"You're still here?" Mack asked, a bit of surprise in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm looking over the story of 'Fantasia' one last time before we start working on it. I want it to be completely like I imagined it."

"You're really dedicated to this, aren't you?" Mack asked again, approaching his desk. He turned on his computer.

"Yeah, I guess so." I looked at him, he wasn't looking at me, "so what are you doing here?"

"Well, I got home, but then the phone lines in my house went down, and I'm waiting for a very important email." He answered.

"I see." I started, "what's the important email about?"

There was a pause, I checked on Mack and saw that his eyes were blank on his screen, "Mack?"

"Oh, sorry, dazed off a bit there, nothing really, just an update about some family I've got down south." Mack answered.

"Ah, alright then." I said, since it was family matters, I didn't want to push too far.

I jumped when Mack suddenly coughed really loud. And he kept coughing.

"Are you alright Mack?" I asked, leaning to the side to check up on him.

"Yeah," he said before coughing heartily again a couple of times, "I think I caught something from one of my apartment neighbours."

"It sounds quite bad." I murmured.

"I don't know, it wasn't so bad at first, but now my eyes continuously itch and sometimes I get a runny nose." Mack explained as he rubbed his teary eyes, "it's getting really annoying. But I'll be fine."

"I don't know man, I think you better get some days off, maybe your body's just exhausted from all the work you've been doing." I told him.

"That really sounds like a good idea," he admitted.

"Alright, I'm pretty sure I'm done here for tonight, you take care of yourself. Don't make whatever you have worse." I told him as I turned the computer off and gathered my stuff.

"Yeah, will do, thanks." Mack said.

"I would shake your hands, but –" I started.

"I understand, me being sick and all." Mack said kindly.

"Good night!" I said as I left.

"Night."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Three days later<br>**_A call woke me up from my sleep. It was six-thirty when I dazedly looked over at my clock. I answered it, my voice growly, tired from the sleep. "Hello?"

Callie's voice jolted me awake, "Chris! Have you heard?"

"Heard what Callie? I was asleep." I groaned.

"Jared sent us an email after we left last night. Have you seen it?"

"I haven't been on the computer since yesterday in the office." I sat up and stretched.

"Mack's quit Epik Gaming." Callie said, her voice shifting down from her usual, excited voice to a stern one.

* * *

><p><strong>Here we go, as I promised, more dialogue. No game reviews this chapter. And I don't know if there will be any next chapter, but we'll see.<strong>

**Hopefully, this chapter is good. Hopefully this chapter is still gripping your interest. Because I like writing this story. And I like that you like this story. So, keep writing reviews, as they motivate me to write. And please do tell people about this story if they like Game Dev Story, because the more people who read this and write reviews really help me out.**

**Constructive criticisms are always welcome and are very helpful!**

**I'm not sure when I'll start on Chapter 5, but it's most likely after**


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